AURORA — The Aurora City Council on Thursday moved forward with plans for a moratorium of up to one year on recreational marijuana facilities.

Council members said they wanted more time to work out issues regarding recreational marijuana sales ahead of an Oct. 1 deadline when state regulations would kick in and people can apply for licenses to run facilities.

That would have left the city just a few months to come up with its own rules.

“I’m very concerned about getting something done between now and August,” Councilman Bob Roth said at a study session. “We need to keep as much local control as we possibly can.”

The moratorium would extend until May 5, 2014, but that date could be moved earlier if city officials adopt rules and regulations before then.

The moratorium will now go to a formal vote by the Aurora City Council.

The council considered a handful of proposals in dealing with Amendment 64 and recreational marijuana, from banning it outright to having a moratorium to allowing some sales but no marijuana clubs.

The most controversial proposal would have had the city entering the marijuana game, by growing, selling, marketing and regulating pot itself.

However, the state legislature this week passed an amendment that prohibited local governments from doing that.

Beginning Jan. 1, people who already have medical marijuana licenses can start running recreational marijuana facilities if they have licenses to do so. Nine months after that, others who secure licenses can start running legit pot businesses. Because Aurora does not have medical marijuana facilities, it would be Oct. 1, 2014, when recreational pot shops in Aurora could begin.

City officials wanted to study where they should allow marijuana businesses and talk with other cities such as Denver that already have medical marijuana dispensaries and are closer to recreational marijuana rules.

“We have to have the time to look at the zoning,” Councilwoman Barb Cleland said.

Councilman Bob Broom wanted to ask voters in November whether the city should allow recreational marijuana facilities but that proposal was shot down, just as what happened with medical marijuana shops.

Carlos Illescas had been with The Denver Post since 1997 before leaving in June 2016. He had worked as a reporter covering the suburbs and was a weekend editor. He previously worked for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram and the Aspen Daily News and graduated from Colorado State University in 1991.

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